Whitey Bulger’s life in Santa Monica

Janus Goodwin, a minister and longtime neighbor, witnessed Bulger's arrest and said the gangster looked dejected and shamed as FBI agents handcuffed him.
Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe

Whitey Bulger’s life in Santa Monica

From their third-floor home, James "Whitey" Bulger and Catherine Greig could see Third Street and the elegant Embassy Hotel Apartments, owned by the same landlord of their building. Bulger often stood at this window and waved at neighbors, according to those who knew him in Santa Monica.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

View from Third Street of Bulger's apartment.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

The couple's kitchen.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

View of the Embassy Hotel Apartments from Bulger's living room window.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

James "Whitey" Bulger's bedroom.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

The wet bar in Bulger's apartment, where holes were cut to hide weapons and money.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

Catherine Greig's bedroom.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

Bulger and Greig had a storage unit inside the apartment garage, where Bulger would eventually be arrested. The FBI cleared most of what was inside, leaving mundane items, like an empty suitcase and an old humidifier.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Anna Bjornsdottir, the Icelandic former beauty queen and actress whose tip led to the capture of James "Whitey" Bulger, crouched outside her Reykjavik apartment in September to pat her cat, Mosa.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

Joshua Bond (right), a property manager at Bulger's building, performed with his country band in Venice Beach. Bond would eventually help the FBI lure Bulger outside of his apartment by telling him his storage locker in the garage had been broken into. Bond said Bulger liked his music and never complained when he and his bandmates played late into the night.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Barbara Gluck, a photographer and neighbor, recalled Greig as a sweet, pretty woman under the thumb of a controlling man.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Janus Goodwin, a minister and longtime neighbor, witnessed Bulger's arrest and said the gangster looked dejected and shamed as FBI agents handcuffed him.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Catalina Schlank, a first-floor tenant, was one of several neighbors who received thank you notes and greeting cards from Catherine Greig over the years.

Eric Grigorian for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

One of the notes from “Carol Gasko,” a.k.a Catherine Greig.

Eric Grigorian for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Greig usually addressed her notes to “kind neighbor.”

Eric Grigorian for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Enrique Sanchez, the building's longtime maintenance supervisor, befriended the couple and recently received a letter from Bulger, who wrote him from prison."We really were friends," Sanchez said in Spanish. "For me, they remain Charlie and Carol. It's going to be hard for me to call him James or her Cathy."

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

James William Lawlor had a strong enough resemblance to Bulger that the gangster convinced Lawlor, an Army veteran who struggled with alcohol, to let him use his California driver's license. Bulger used Lawlor's identification to pick up prescription drugs and dip into a bank account.

Handout from California DMV
| October 8, 2011

James William Lawlor, who gave his identity to Bulger, lived for almost a decade in a one-room apartment in the West End Hotel in Los Angeles. His body was found in that apartment in August 2007, days after he died of heart disease.

Yoon S.Byun/Globe Staff
| October 8, 2011

Catherine Greig usually visited the farmer's market set up on Third Street twice a week, where she would pull her metal cart and munch on dried apricots and nectarines she bought at one of the stands, according to neighbors and vendors.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Bulger and Greig occasionally dined at Michael's, a high-end restaurant near their home. They always asked for Table 23, which is nestled in the outdoor courtyard, affording some distance from other diners but also a good view of the entire restaurant.

Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe
| October 8, 2011

Bulger lived within walking distance of the Santa Monica Pier, where it is easy to get lost in the crowd. But in 2008, a man on vacation with his family claimed he saw Bulger sitting on a bench. The FBI never followed up on the tip, according to the man.